


Achieve Greatness

by danceinmystorm



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben is a surgical legacy, Dr. Ben Solo, Dr. Rey Niima, F/M, He doesn't make a good first impression, Naberrie Amidala Hospital, One is more "patient" than the other, Rey and Ben have to work together for a patient, Rey is a surgical prodigy, Skywalker Cardiothoracic Medical Center, lots of medical terminology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23621647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceinmystorm/pseuds/danceinmystorm
Summary: When Dr. Rey Niima arrives at Naberrie Amidala Hospital, Dr. Ben Solo doesn't make a good first impression. He doesn't work well with others. Especially with others he'd yelled at when they first met. When he realizes that he, Attending of Cardiothoracic Surgery, has to work with the new Attending of Neonatal and Fetal Surgery for a complicated case, he knows he's in for a rough time - with this case and with his new colleague.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Achieve Greatness

_Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them._

_– Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 5, William Shakespeare_

It hadn’t been a particularly good day for Ben Solo. Actually, if he were being honest, it hadn’t been a particularly good week, month, or year, really. But that particular day – he’d lost a patient. Not just any patient, the patient had been one he’d grown particularly close to. Lor San Tekka, who during the last ten years of his life was dealing with cardiomyopathy, a heart disease, had been being treated by Dr. Solo. Though there is no cure for this particular heart disease, both doctor and patient were fully aware of that, it didn’t make the loss any less hard for the doctor.

So that afternoon, after Lor San Tekka’s room was cleared and all of the papers were signed, as Ben Solo stood at the nurse’s station finishing some notes on a chart, an unsuspecting person with an innocent question bore the grunt of Dr. Solo’s frustration and grief.

“Excuse me, do you know where Dr. Luke Skywalker’s office might be?”

“Do I look like a damn tour guide?”

His voice was more gruff than usual. And louder than usual, except when he wasn’t yelling. There were only his normal, low speaking voice and the voice he used when he was yelling at the residents, interns, or nurses. There was no in-between.

Except right now there seemed to be the in-between. The grief of loss, the anger of the circumstances, and the annoyance of the interruption of his thoughts culminated in the tone in-between his usual two.

“I apologize, I’m—”

“I don’t care who you are,” Dr. Solo threw the chart he was working on down into the nurses’ station, narrowly missing one of the nurses, causing everyone in the vicinity to jump. Thankfully, the patient rooms in the ICU where the scene was occurring were all closed and thankfully, mostly soundproof. “You do not look like one of the doctors here, nor a nurse, and certainly not one of our patients’ families since they are not allowed on this floor without permission so leave this floor before I call security.”

He stormed off with only a brief look at the poor victim of his temper. A woman. Dark-haired. Looked lost, obviously. As he walked away, he clenched and loosened his right fist, fighting the urge to punch the next wall he came near. Knowing it was a terrible idea to punch something, and therefore rendering his dominant unable to perform surgery, Ben took deep breaths to calm himself down. He walked briskly towards a stairwell, one he was all too familiar with, and grasped the railing. Keeping in mind the breathing exercise that his therapist told him about, he counted the seconds he breathed in, held the breath, and then breathed out.

After a few minutes, or maybe even fifteen or twenty, he wasn’t sure, he was interrupted by a message on his pager. _ER – ambulance en route – 5 minutes._

Slapping himself in the face a few times, he started making his way down the stairs – five full flights – to the emergency room on the first floor.

* * *

_Two weeks later_

It had been a week after Lor San Tekka’s funeral, where Ben and his uncle Luke Skywalker, as well as the few interns, residents, and nurses that were involved with his case, attended, but Ben could not escape the looks and words of sympathy from people at the hospital. Hell, even Lor San Tekka’s family was making it difficult for him to move on because they insisted on sending _him_ flowers and making _him_ meals, when t _hey_ were the ones grieving the loss of a family member.

He stared angrily at the bouquet of lilies and hydrangeas, a personal thank you from San Tekka’s niece, that he’d put in the Attendings’ Break Room as he ate one of the casseroles that also came from San Tekka’s family. The fridge was full of plastic Tupperware with food made by the women of San Tekka’s family. Ben begrudgingly ate the food he’d been gifted, feeling too guilty if he threw it all away and also having no time to get food of his own since he rarely stepped out of the hospital nowadays.

Breaking his stand-off with the white hydrangeas and lilies was the sound of the door opening and the entrance of Ben’s fellow Attending, Armitage Hux. The Orthopedic surgeon also eyed the massive bouquet now sitting on the dinner table. He sat down near it. The juxtaposition of the white flowers and Hux’s bright red hair almost made Ben smile. Almost.

“We have that meeting in ten,” Hux reminded Ben as he plucked the card from the monstrous bouquet.

“Don’t remind me,” Ben replied in a mumble, shoving more casserole into his mouth. “We finally get to meet Skywalker’s prodigy.”

“As if you’re not excited,” Hux chided. “ _Our family thanks you for all that you’ve done. Please call if you need anything. Marlowe San Tekka._ This Marlowe is hoping that you’ll call her.”

Ben rolled his eyes and started washing his plastic Tupperware. “Sorry for killing your uncle. Want to go on a date?”

“Ben, you didn’t kill him.”

“I certainly didn’t keep him alive, did I?”

“You gave him five more years than projected. You gave him and his family more than they could’ve asked for.”

Ben had heard that over and over the past few weeks. From Lor San Tekka’s family, his own parents, and his Uncle Luke, the other Attending, on the case. Regardless of how often they said it and how much they meant it – _Ben, you did everything you could_ – he couldn’t believe them.

Losing a patient is always hard. Always. Regardless of how many patients you save and how many you lose, a loss hurts every single time. It hurts the same; the burn in your heart, the empty feeling you’re left with as the burn finally goes out, and the regret and grief that keeps replaying in your mind. _What else could I have done. What did I do wrong._

Dr. Solo had dealt with many patient deaths in his career. Every one he experienced caused a piece of his already lonely heart to break just a bit more and more. At this point in his career, and his life, he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. The loss of his longest patient was causing him to reevaluate his life choices – he wasn’t sure he could take another loss like this one.

Except, just a month ago, one of Luke’s long-term patients, and Ben’s godmother, was admitted back into the Skywalker Cardiothoracic Medical Center at the world-famous Naberrie Amidala Hospital in Coruscant. Amilyn Holdo had been diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia when she was in her thirties, and now in her late fifties, she survived longer than projected and led a relatively normal, but not super active, life. Her arrhythmias were occurring more often now, along with regular palpitations, and Luke decided it was time to have Amilyn admitted, hopefully for a short time.

What was just as heartbreaking for the Holdo family was the discovery that her daughter, Kaydel, had genetically inherited the disease and, at the time of her diagnosis, exhibited worse symptoms than her mother had at 35. Even more so heartbreaking was that, at 25, at the same time she’d been diagnosed with ARVD, Kaydel discovered she was pregnant.

The meeting that Luke Skywalker, Chief of General Surgery, had scheduled for that morning was to introduce “his answer” to the Kaydel Connix case. While Naberrie Amidala Hospital, named after Luke Skywalker’s mother and Ben Solo’s grandmother, held the World Renowned Skywalker Cardiothoracic Medical Center, named after Luke Skywalker’s father and Ben Solo’s grandfather – _what a daunting legacy,_ anyone who knew Ben Solo’s family would say to him – they mostly, if not entirely, dealt with internal medicine cases. They had not introduced a neonatal or pediatric branch to their team since the hospital’s inception all those years ago.

Until now.

“I never thought Skywalker would’ve budged,” Hux was saying as they stood in the back of the board room. The other surgeons, attendings, residents, and interns, were all fluttering into the room as well. It was almost time for Luke’s big announcement. “I know that we have that high profile case but he always had them transferred to Alderaan Children’s Hospital. Dr. Tano is the most famous pediatric surgeon in the world. What’s different now?”

“The mother is also a patient,” Ben replied. “If anything, the more important patient. But we can’t operate on the mother without expertise on the fetus. That’s why he’s bringing in some former student of his. Apparently this surgeon specializes in pediatric, neonatal, and fetal surgery.”

“Oh, that’s it?” Hux joked. “How did he find this surgeon? He must be some hidden secret if he’s that good and we haven’t heard of him.”

Ben merely shrugged. He had tried to pry information out of his uncle about this new surgeon they were bringing into the fold for the Connix case. But the older man wouldn’t budge. He’d said something about making sure Ben had no prejudices against this surgeon before they’d even met. He would be working with this surgeon closely after all. Kaydel would be his patient, while the baby would be the new surgeon’s patient.

Ben had never worked well with others. It was a trying time for him, all those years as an intern and resident under numerous attendings and even his own uncle, as his teachers. But he made it through the entire time as a lowly student and intern. He was an Attending now and mostly dealt with his cardiothoracic cases on his own, with sometimes some input from his uncle. This time, though, he’d work on one case, but technically two cases, for the survival of a patient and her child with an Attending he’d never met.

Until.

“Good morning everyone,” Luke Skywalker walked into the room happily, though his grey hair and the bags under his eyes showing the toll his job has taken on him. “Thank you all for being here. I know some of you are here even after very long shifts and just after surgeries so I appreciate that you all could make time for the introduction of a new member of our team.

As you all know, or may have heard by now, we have a newly admitted patient with ARVD. While ARVD is not a new condition for us, we’ve had many patients with ARVD before, this case is a bit more extraordinary. Our patient is four months pregnant, with twins. And seeing as ARVD is a genetic condition...well, you all know what that means.”

Ben didn’t know that it was twins. No wonder Luke had caved like paper mâché when Ben’s mother, Luke’s twin sister, and Director of the Board, insisted that it was time to bring in a pediatric and neonatal unit to the hospital. It was also another high-profile case to bring more attention to their already world-renowned hospital.

“Naberrie Amidala Hospital has long been an internal medicine hospital. This has allowed our facility to be the one that other doctors and patients think of when they are in need of extraordinary help. But it is time we introduce pediatric and neonatal cases to this facility, starting with our Connix case. I know that normally pediatric and neonatal cases would be transferred to our sister hospital in Alderaan but this case requires expertise that Alderaan does not yet have and not able to introduce at this time. Thankfully, though, through our generous donors and proper budgets, we will soon, in a few years time, introduce a pediatric, neonatal, and fetal health center to Naberrie Amidala Hospital.”

The room erupted into generous clapping. Ben slowly clapped himself.

“But as we lay the groundwork to this new and exciting chapter for our hospital, we must focus on our cases at hand. And with this particular case, we had to find a surgeon and specialist that had experience with not only fetal care and surgery but also cardiology.”

Ben felt a nudge into his side. Hux was being a little shit.

“It just so happened that during my brief stint in Jakku a few years back for further research into certain cardiothoracic cases, I met a surgeon who had experience I’d never seen in any other doctor. This surgeon that I worked alongside was, specifically, a Neonatal and Fetal surgeon with board certifications in General Medicine and Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Upon getting in contact with this surgeon when the Connix case came along a month ago, I found out that this surgeon, in the several years since we’d last seen each other, had become certified in Congenital Cardiac Surgery.”

“Jesus Christ, is this Doogie Howser or the oldest doctor known to man?” Ben overheard Poe Dameron, Attending of Neurosurgery, whisper.

“It’s funny that you mention Doogie Howser, Dr. Dameron,” Luke said, pointing out the attending specifically. Poe flushed pink. “Like the fictional doctor, our new Attending also attended Princeton University at a young age. They went onto attend Harvard Medical School, attended a residency program at Ahch-To, and completed their pediatric surgery fellowship at Stanford. Additional fellowships for neonatal and fetal surgery followed. When we met, Dr. Niima was in Jakku assisting in pro-bono cases with high-risk pregnant mothers. I met several newborns born under Dr. Niima’s care, most of whom would not have survived had it not been for this exceptional surgeon.”

A murmur of disbelief and awe came over the crowd of doctors.

“Well, enough of this waffling,” Luke waved a hand. “I’m sure Dr. Niima is fuming on the side at all this praise. Without further ado, everyone, please help me welcome Dr. Rey Niima to Naberrie Amidala Hospital.”

Ben watched as a strangely familiar woman appeared from behind a wall. He couldn’t place exactly how he knew this woman, but he knew he’d seen her before. Maybe on the street? At some bar or restaurant he’d gone to in the last six months?

“Damn,” he heard Hux whisper at his side. “Definitely not Doogie Howser.”

“Rey, we are so happy that you are here,” Luke said to the new Attending once the whoops and clapping subsided.

“It is an honor, Dr. Skywalker,” Dr. Niima said. She looked around the room, making brief eye contact with most of them and giving a small smile.

When her eyes landed on his, Ben Solo gulped. He knew exactly who this was. And if that brief glare of her eyes meant what he thought, then she remembered him too.

_“Excuse me, do you know where Dr. Luke Skywalker’s office might be?”_

_“Do I look like a damn tour guide?”_

“Everyone, let’s be sure to make Dr. Niima feel comfortable here at Naberrie Amidala,” Luke was saying but Ben could barely hear. He held Dr. Niima’s, Rey’s stare, for seconds longer than was probably appropriate. Then her lips quirked up on one side as she turned away.

_Well, shit._


End file.
